Insecticide.



"rain was earn r canton.

ISAAC W. DRUMMONID, or new YORK, n. Y.

Patented June 7,1910.

INSECTICIDE.

' 960,287. Specification of Letters Patent.

No Drawing.

years at various agricultural experiment SttlllOIlS and elsewhere, havedemonstrated the fact that the various metallic arsenates are superiorinsecticides, excelling 1n ef ficiency, mmany oases, pans green, now andpose. The physical condition, however, in which these arsenates haveheretofore'been 1 offered in trade and commerce, which has been the onlycondition possible, previous to my invention, has restricted the largerutilization which they deserve. The restrictions referred to are partlydue to thephysical characteristics of the metallic arsenates, and partlyto their chemical characteristics, 6., their corrosive nature;

Under my invention I obviate all of these sive manner, ready forimmediate and convenient'use by the consumer.

heretofore largely employed for the purdifficulties and present themupon the mar-- ket in an attractive and relatively inexpen- Arsenate ofsoda and any soluble metallic salt, such, for instance, as nitrate oflead,

are .well'known articles of commerce,- appearing upon the market usuallyin'the form of crystals, and they are'susceptible of reduction togranular. or pulverulent condition. If these substances in dry powdered.

. form bebrought together and be intimately mixed in the proper chemicalproportions,

they will, when put into water, produce a.

chemical decomposition,- and white precipi tater of arsenate of leadwill result, leaving a dissolved salt. of soda in the supernatantliquor. "when these dry powdered chemicals are -mixed together, therewill take place more I have discovered, however, that or less chemicaldecomposition, even in'their y and this can beprevente only byhermetically sealingthe powders in a suitable airtight receptacle, butthis is undesirable, because itis not permanently eflicient, since thepowders, even then; when in direct contact are apt 'to agglomeratetogetherand form a hard mass difficult and impracticable to -,s ub'sequently, dissolve in water. Fur- -.state, due totheir. hygroscopiccharacter Application filed January 18, 1919. Serial No. 538,610.

thermore, the preferred manner in which to present such material uponthe market, particularly in small packages, is to put it up ininexpensive cardboard or paper cartons, such as have always heretoforebeen used in the distribution of paris green, and these andnot-air-tight, will of course be inadequate to protect the powders fromhumidity. I have further discovered, however, that I can overcome thisagglomeration and partial chemical decomposition by adding from fifteento twenty per cent. of cornstarch to the mixture ofrpowdered arsenate ofsoda and the soluble metallic salt, since the addition of the cornstarchprecludes the chemical action between the two salts by separating theirrespective particles and prevents any chemical action between them.

In practicingmy invention, I take arsenate of soda and a solublemetallic salt in proper chemical proportions, bothin finely divided orpowdered condition, and when dry'I mix'with. them from fifteen to twentyper cent., more or less, of their weight of cornstarch, also in drypowdered condition; The mixing should be thoroughly efiected.

. boxes or cartons being more or less porous The resulting mass may thenbe put upon the market in ordinary paper boxes or cartons, and will keepindefinitely. At the time of use, the contents of the box'being emptiedinto, water in any suitable vessel and stirred therein, chemicaldecomposition will immediately take place and the resulting insolublemetallic arsenate in suspension in'the water, is at once ready forspraying or for 1 other methods of application as an insect-L" ide.There'are other materials which can e' used to separate the particles ofthe chemicals, such, for instance, as bone dust, finely powdered glue,starch, etc. I prefer, however, cornstarch.

Although I prefer to usea soluble salt of lead as the metallicingredient, 'thus producing 'arsenate of lead, as the insecticide, stillthere are other materials somewhat similar to the soluble salt ofleadwhich may besubstituted therefor, notably sulfate of iron.

Treating. this in the same way as above, I take arsenate of soda andsulfate of iron, and thus form arsenate of iron as a precipitate, w'it.hthe sulfate of soda in the super:

natant liquor. In fact the soluble 'arsenates of various metals act wellas insecticides, and it is quite probable that the arsenate of .fore donot limit mys'elf to'the'arsenate of lead, but include the arsenates ofall metals and of the alkaline earths.

I call particular attention to the fact that an adhesive substance, suchas cornstarch, or

tions. It serves not only as a segregator to keep the particles of thedry powdered chemlcals apart, but it also acts as an agglutinant I toattach the particles of'the resulting precipita te of insoluble metallicarsenate more firmly on which it has been applied.

"equivalent material, performs dual 'func- .to the foliage or stems ofthe plants I claim: r

1. An insecticide composed of arsenate of soda, a soluble salt of lead,and asegregating material, all in dry powdered condition. 2. Aninse'cticide composed of arsenate of 21 soda, a soluble salt of lead,and a segregating and adhesive material, all in dry powdered. condition.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of 25 two subscribing witnesses.

1 ISAAC w. DRUMMo-Nn.

Witnessesz' Y WILLIAM H. PHILLIPS,

H. v. c. Ma

